Meet the Author

The FermentedlyChallenged blog has been retired since the end of October 2016. It has been a great 9 year run. Thanks to all the readers and brewery staff for all your support in the past. I'm living in the Denver metro area and working in the Cable TV industry now. Cheers and enjoy beer responsibly. Follow along on social media - @ChipperDave on Twitter and on Facebook.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

It's still May, but the Summer heat is already upon us here in Colorado. Good thing that there's so many great craft breweries in the state to help keep us cool. Lots up upcoming festivals and beer tappings happening this week. If you aren't reading Fermentedly Challenged on a regular basis you won't know what on tap next. Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Thursday, May 29th, 2014. If you aren't reading this article on FermentedlyChallenged.com, you don't know what you're missing.

38 State Brewing Co (Littleton) - In the words of Alice Cooper, "School's Out for Summer!", and at 38 State Brewing Company they would like to give a huge THANK YOU to all of the professional educators out there helping to mold the young minds of America's youth. In honor of your hard work, 38 State would like to offer up the "Alice Cooper Special" - a 20% discount on all brews, apparel, & glassware this Friday-Sunday. This promotion is open to all teachers, administrators, office/custodial staff, etc who help make a difference each day in the lives of their students. Just bring in your current educator ID and receive 20% your total bill. [8071A S Broadway, Littleton, CO]

Breckenridge Brewery (Denver) - On July 12th, Breckenridge Brewery will celebrate their 24th Anniversary with a Hootenanny! This ALL-INCLUSIVE celebration will feature 2 Stages of Music, their annual Pig Roast, and access to their full lineup of beers, including specialty beers from their Pilot Breckenridge Brew Pub and Rare Beer Cellar. The all-Colorado music lineup includes DeadPhish Orchestra, The Magic Beans, Kitchen Dwellers, Trout Steak Revival, Colorado Goat Ropers Guild, and Marty Jones & the Great Unknowns. Tickets are $24 for a limited time at: breckbrew.com/Hootenanny - Proceeds will benefit Conscious Alliance. [471 Kalamath St, Denver, CO]

Comrade Brewing Co (Denver) - Attention comrades! There's a new brew on the block: their Vanilla Porter. They just tapped the firkin and it's ready to pour, so stop by after work to see for yourself! [7667 E Iliff Ave, Unit F, Denver, CO]

Asher Brewing Co (Boulder) - Get your 2-person cornhole team put together and enter your team in their Asher Brewing Cornhole-a-Palooza on Sunday, June 22nd starting at 2:30pm. For $30 (paid in advance), you get all you can drink + entry into the tourney. The cost is $35 day of registration. The Grand Prize for the best cornhole team is: Custom Asher Cornhole Boards, a Keg of Asher Beer, and Championship Belts! Register now at the brewery. [4699 Nautilus Ct, Suite 104, Boulder, CO]

Boulder Beer Co (Boulder) - [PRESS RELEASE] Boulder Beer Company, Colorado’s First Craft Brewery, recently refreshed the graphics and the beer selection of their longtime mixed 12-pack – the Brewer’s Dozen. Prior to this refresh, the package included Hazed & Infused, Mojo IPA, Sweaty Betty Blonde Hefeweizen, and a rotating Brewer’s Choice beer. The new mix swaps out Sweaty Betty with their new award-winning Shake Chocolate Porter, while retaining Hazed & Infused, Mojo IPA and the rotating Brewer’s Choice mystery beer. “The momentum we’re seeing with Shake Chocolate Porter and its recent Gold Award in Chocolate Beer at the 2014 World Beer Cup warranted bringing Shake into the Brewer’s Dozen mix,” said Tess McFadden, Marketing Director for Boulder Beer Company. “With that change we also had the opportunity to refresh the graphics and decided it was time to brighten-up the package and bring more focus to the brewery name and where the beer was crafted.” The package design moved from a red and black theme to a bright gold and green background, with the focal point being the updated Boulder Beer Company logo, leaving no question as to its origin. The individual brand logos then orbit the company logo, illustrating which beers are inside the box. To celebrate the release, Boulder Beer came up with a “Find My Phone” promotion, dropping cell phones into numerous boxes with a programmed number to call when found. The lucky customers that find a phone in their Brewer’s Dozen call the brewery and win Boulder Beer gear. The idea for the promotion blossomed when one of their production employees, without realizing, dropped his cell phone into a Brewer’s Dozen while hand-sorting the bottles. By the time he figured out what happened and tracked his phone’s whereabouts, it was already somewhere in Pennsylvania! The first pallets of the updated box started shipping last week to several markets. It will be available to all 37 states where Boulder Beer is distributed.

Avery Brewing Co (Boulder) - Sour lovers will want to attend the release party for Avery's Obscuro & Nimbosus #20 barrel-aged sour ale on Sunday, June 15th at their tasting room starting at 11:00am. This is a brilliant tropical sour aged in "the" appropriate rum barrels for a more authentic experience. Bottle sales begin at 1pm. Each bottle is $12 per 12oz bottle. Limit 12 bottles per person. Bring cash for the lineup or rare beers available on draft. And since it's Fathers Day that day, they will treat all fathers to a pint of IPA or White Rascal. [5763 Arapahoe, Boulder, CO]

1933 Brewing Co (Ft. Collins) - The long wait is over, Belgian's Maibock will be back on tap at High Noon today! This is their Maibock recipe with the addition of Belgian candi sugar and local honey from Copoco's Honey & Bee products. To top it off, they aged this brew with French Oak wood in the fermenter during the aging & maturation process. You will pick up lots of caramel and honey notes in the aroma complimented by soft vanilla undertones from the French Oak. Stop in for a pint. [4025 S Mason, Ft. Collins, CO]

CooperSmith's Pub & Brewing (Ft. Collins) - School may be out for the summer, but BREW SCHOOL is just about to start! Have you heard about Coopersmith's new Brew School yet? Classes start soon. Come on into the pub and ask your server how you can join in with their brewing classes. You get to drink beer, learn about beer and even win prizes (like beer). What could be a better class?! [#5 Old Town Sq, Ft. Collins, CO]

Front Range Rally Beer Fest (Loveland) - Want to know what beers will be pouring at the Front Range Rally this Saturday May 31st? Here's the complete list in one handy PDF file. Over 40 breweries and 10 food trucks. Plus live music from Monocle Band and Chain Station. General Admission tix still available at: frontrangerally.com/tickets. Festival runs 2:30pm to 7:00pm (VIP @ 1:30pm - SOLD OUT). Help benefit Food Bank for Larimer County - 100% of proceeds help feed the hungry. [2600 N Lincoln Ave, Loveland, CO]

All Brewer's Eve (Ft. Collins) - The warm-up event to the 25th annual Colorado Brewers' Festival - All Brewers' Eve - is back again this year and is scheduled for Friday night, June 27th from 6-9pm in downtown Fort Collins, CO. This years ABE will be hosted by Wilbur's Total Beverage, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant and El Monte Grill and will be another magical evening of beer & food. Attendees will have access to exclusive limited craft beers and be able to visit with other beer enthusiasts, brewery representatives and master brewers from across the state. Tickets are limited so get yours today here - http://dofo.co/cobftix.

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins) - Win a Fat Tire Experience! Whether tall-bike jousting, riding cross bikes through rusty junkyards or chopping a bicycle into the ultimate lowrider, New Belgium and their fans always appreciated those who appreciate the unconventional. To celebrate they're showcasing some of their favorite mavericks on their web site. Check 'em out, and while you're at it, enter for a chance to win a trip to this year's San Diego Tour de Fat. The Fat Tire Experience doesn't end there; tell them what unconventional activities YOU pair Fat Tire with on Instagram and twitter with the hashtag #pairswell. Also, stop by their tasting room. Their hours are 11am to 7pm Tuesdays through Sundays. [500 Linden St, Ft. Collins, CO]

Odell Brewing Co (Ft. Collins) - Remember their Single Batch Series brew called "Double Pilsner"? It is retired but returns this weekend for a limited time. It's part of their 25 Years of Odell Brewing celebration. [800 E Lincoln Ave, Ft. Collins, CO]

Pateros Creek Brewing Co (Ft. Collins) - It's Thursday and time for a new Outlaw tapping. This week it's "Shark Attack IPA", a chamomile infused IPA. It's described as "dry and bitter with lots of fruit and flower notes". Stop in for a glass. [242 N College Ave, Unit B, Ft. Collins, CO]

Ute Pass Brewing Co (Woodland Park) - This restaurant, soon to also be a brewery, got news from the Department of the Treasury - Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau: "Your application qualifying as a Brewery has been approved. Attached are your Brewer's Notice...". Another major hurdle passed. They are meeting with several contractors on Saturday morning to keep the remodel moving forward. Still can not give anyone a specific date for the brewery, but it is getting closer and they'll progress soon! [209 E Midland Ave, Woodland Park, CO]

Rock Bottom Brewery (Colorado Springs) - They've had some whiskey barrels in their fermentation room for a while now and today they decided to tap one of them. Stop in for a 2-year aged whiskey barrel aged Black Knight Porter. This is a very limited edition beer and is on their Specialty Dark tap now. Get some quick before it's gone! [3316 Cinema Pt, Colo. Springs, CO]

Mountains and West

Fat Abbey Brewing Co (Delta) - Here's some news from an upcoming brewery to open in Delta, CO. Fat Abbey Brewing is working on finalizing a lease and hope to have it signed soon. Meanwhile, they've started filling out our Brewer's Notice for the TTB (Feds) so it can be submitted as soon as the lease is signed. Their new Website is also in development. Stay tuned for more news and updates!

Steamworks Brewing Co (Durango) - [PRESS RELEASE] With a nod to Durango’s budding marijuana culture, Steamworks Brewing Co. rolls out a potent preparation for the monthly Firkin Friday. The “Day Wrecker” firkin will be tapped at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 6, 2014. “There’s no pot in the Day Wrecker,” assured Ken Martin, Certified Cicerone® and Steamworks director of brewing operations. “Just conjuring an image as this beer is a very powerful rendition of our bourbon barrel-aged 50/50 Imperial IPA. We've had four or five incarnations of it over the past several years, and it has been a fan favorite since its inception.” The Day Wrecker consists of a 50/50 blend of Steamworks’ Conductor Imperial IPA and the Elephant Rider Imperial IPA – both very strong, well-hopped but distinctly different IPAs that blend and age well together, according to Martin. The Steamworks brewers also added a gallon or so of actively fermenting Third Eye PA to facilitate the re-fermentation that creates the carbonation in the beer. [801 E Second Ave, Durango, CO]

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Colorado Beer News is published on Fermentedly Challenged daily (Monday through Friday) with craft beer stories as they break from newsletters, emails and social media sites. This news is intended for audiences of legal drinking age (21+). If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here. Please, always drink responsibly and use a designated driver.